Recently on Joe Rogan’s podcast, in between discussing humanitarian aid and American politics, Bono slipped in an anecdote of lesser gravitas: He and U2 once opened for a Dallas wet T-shirt competition.
The Irish rock band did the gig in 1981, when Bono was 21.
“A lot of the cooler bands would just play the coast — you know the cooler UK bands or European bands. I wanted to be all over America,” he said in a May 30 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
U2 played at the since-closed Bijou in Medallion Center to a meager crowd of 30, according to a 2005 Dallas Morning News article. Tickets cost $1.02.
George Gimarc, who was a radio jockey for KZEW-FM, introduced U2 as “one of the most promising bands from England,” The News reported. Bono corrected him, saying, “We’re from Ireland!”
U2 returned to Dallas several times in the ensuing years.
In 1987, at a concert in the Tarrant County Convention Center, Bono wore a cowboy hat. “Have I the right to wear this hat in Texas?” he asked the crowd, according to The News.
Reflecting on those touring days, Bono told Rogan, “I have really great memories of just busing it through this sort of mythical landscape.”
“I just thinking there’s so many Americas.”
The brief foray into the past came up as Bono was detailing his fascination with America and its origins. His activist spirit also came on display as he discussed current affairs.
He was critical of federal cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development, saying the policy change had caused hundreds of thousands to die. “There’s food rotting in boats and warehouses,” he said. “The people who knew the codes — who were responsible for distributing that aid — were fired. That’s not America, is it?”
Elon Musk, who until recently helmed the Department of Government Efficiency, responded to a clip of the podcast on X, calling Bono “a liar.” He also wrote, “Zero people have died!”
Bono’s appearance on the podcast was in of his recent documentary, Stories of Surrender, which Apple TV+ says “pulls back the curtain” on his life.
The promotional run also included Bono being a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! recently. He shared with Kimmel the story of a time his late father saw him perform in Texas.
“It was a roar of a crowd,” he said, recalling the day. When the spotlight fell on his father, Bono gave him a big welcome. “My father’s just arrived here in Texas, first time in the United States. There he is: Brendan Robert Hewson.”
“He just stands up like this,” Bono recalled, as he got out of his seat and thrust his fist into the air. “He does not disappoint.”
